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Enhancing Regional Innovation Systems in Cymru (Wales): Lessons from AgorIP and CALIN
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Roderick Thomas,
Hafwen Lewis,
Zoe Coombs ,
Gareth Davies
European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Volume: 20, Issue: 1, Pages: 304 - 312
Swansea University Authors:
Harrison Rees, Daniel Rees , Roderick Thomas, Hafwen Lewis, Gareth Davies
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Copyright (c) 2025 Harrison Rees, Daniel Rees, Roderick Thomas, Hafwen Lewis, Zoe Coombs, Gareth Davies. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.34190/ecie.20.1.4201
Abstract
This paper presents a practitioner report of two exemplar European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) projects within Cymru (Wales). Namely analysing the AgorIP and Celtic Advanced Life Science Innovation Network (CALIN) business and research support projects within the context of Regional Innovation...
| Published in: | European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship |
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| ISSN: | 2049-1050 2049-1069 |
| Published: |
Academic Conferences International Ltd
2025
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70467 |
| Abstract: |
This paper presents a practitioner report of two exemplar European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) projects within Cymru (Wales). Namely analysing the AgorIP and Celtic Advanced Life Science Innovation Network (CALIN) business and research support projects within the context of Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) (Cooke et al, 2004; Pino & Ortega,2018). Cymru has had a long history tied to innovation with Llywodraeth Cymru (Welsh Government) placing the need toencourage Research Development & Innovation (RD&I) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) competitiveness at the forefront of their vision for Cymru’s future economy. Both lead by Prifysgol Abertawe (Swansea University), the AgorIP and CALIN projects had different delivery models, AgorIP having secondees in external Cymru HEIs and GIG Cymru UHBs (NHS Wales University Health Boards) that supported the delivery at the main hub, and CALIN, a partnership between three Cymru and three Irish HEIs. Jointly supporting over 300 enterprises and organisations across their lifetimes, the projects' outcomes offer the potential to learn from previous publicly funded business support initiatives within the Cymru RIS. This paper will use these outcomes to inform future Cymru RIS support projects that could learn from and improve on the operations of those before it. These new projects should focus on sharing capabilities and avoiding duplication where possible,incorporating and utilising the individual capabilities and knowledge bases of Cymru's HEIs and Science Parks, with the ability to work on projects that combine organisations across Cymru and beyond. Further, the projects should adopt AI-enabled software as a ‘shopfront’ to engage with users, automate the creation of RIS networks, and provide business support templates and training that can be supplemented by additional support from project partners. |
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| Keywords: |
Regional Innovation Systems (RIS), Innovation, Technology Transfer, Open Innovation, Publicly Funded Business Support |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Issue: |
1 |
| Start Page: |
304 |
| End Page: |
312 |